A Queen Out of Time
by trekkie0802
Summary: Anna Kristiansen is a respected but lonely US Navy captain returning to home port after weeks of NATO war games when she and her crew come across early to mid-19th century ships that appeared out of thin air, and on one of these ships is a queen of a nation that no longer exists, a queen who has been missing for 180 years. ELSANNA. NO POWERS.
1. Ch 1: Homeward Bound

**1600Hrs, 15 December 2020. Taranto, Italy **

Aboard the bridge of a brand-new Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, Captain Anna Kristiansen was gazing out at the serene Italian sunset with a stoic look on her face. By this point, the newly launched USS Republic had been participating in NATO war games for the past two weeks in the Mediterranean, and the whole crew was exhausted and anxious to get stateside before Christmas; well… almost everyone.

Anna isn't like any of the other sailors, at 27 years old, she's one of the youngest people in US Navy history to be promoted to captain. As a young, attractive woman in command of one of the US's most powerful and valuable military assets, she the darling of the Navy's Public Affairs office.

Anna on the other hand, hated the fanfare. The Navy portrays her as some "Courageous, Patriotic, American Hero" who overcame the odds, worked her ass off, and climbed the chain of command in order to serve her country; when in reality, the only reason she signed up for the Naval Academy was because she was lonely, depressed and had no direction in life.

Anna didn't have it easy growing up in rural Minnesota, her father had ditched them when she was 2, and while her mother did her best to provide for both of them, it was always barely enough to scrape by. Despite the hardships, Anna absolutely adored her mother, she was her constant, the only person in her life who she knew will love her unconditionally, they often spent hours telling each other stories after they went home, and spent Christmases laughing and exchanging whatever gifts they could afford. All this came to an end however, when she was just 17 years old. it was a day she'll remember for the rest of her life; it was 11 o'clock at night and Anna was wondering when her mother would come home_._

"_her shift ended hours ago, where the hell is she?" _Thought Anna. shewas worry-sick, and just as she finished that thought, the old landline telephone rang_. "RRRRING"_

Picking up the phone as quickly as she could, she could hear a sad voice on the other end_. "Good Evening Madam, this is Dr. Hua Mulan from the Cambridge Medical center speaking on behalf of Miss Iduna Kristiansen, may I speak to an Anna Kristiansen please?"_

Full of worry and on the verge of panic, Anna nervously responded to the woman on the other end of the line_. "This is Anna Kristiansen; what's wrong?! Did something happen to mama?" _

"_I'm so sorry Ms. Kristiansen… we tried our best, but at 8 o'clock tonight, your mother Iduna Kristiansen was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries. According to witnesses, she was run over by an out of control semi at high speeds. We tried stabilizing her when she got to the hospital, but by then she had already lost too much blood, and unfortunately passed an hour after she arrived at the hospital… "_

Anna turned white at the woman's words, she very nearly dropped the phone, went weak in the knees, and passed out. It was at this moment that Anna's life changed forever.

The Funeral was short and solemn, and it was only after the service that Anna realized that she was now truly alone in the world, her good for nothing father didn't even have the balls to showup and she didn't really have any other family. In her grief, Anna promptly shut people out of her life and buried herself in schoolwork. Even though she was getting straight A's, she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do after graduation, Anna quite literally had no friends, no family, and no direction in life.

All this changed however, when Anna decided to take the ASVAB one cold Friday afternoon to get out of a boring English class. She not only managed to get a decent score, but was the top scorer in her entire county; suddenly, Anna found herself getting bombarded with recruitment offers from every branch of the military, and after much contemplation, an epiphany that she had nothing left in Minnesota, and that she had absolutely no future if she stayed. Anna seized the opportunity and moved to Virginia, enlisted in the Navy, and never looked back.

Captain Kristiansen Looked down at the latest reports from the weather service on her military issued iPad while walking up to her XO Kristoff Bjornman making final checks on a clipboard in a corner of the bridge_, _

"_Good Afternoon commander, _greeted Anna with a slight smile_. I hope all is well with our ship?"_

"_Yes, ma'am" _ replied the XO while signing off a few things on his clipboard. Kristoff gave Anna a short status report on the ship_ "The dock crews just finished topping off our tanks an hour ago, Temperatures and Pressures in all systems are in the green, we're filled with enough good chow to get us all the way to Norfolk, and all 320 enlisted and NCOs, including you and I, are accounted for."_

"_Excellent"_ said Anna ecstatically, "_if the weather holds up, we might just make it back before Christmas Eve". _

Walking with a confident stride towards a nearby console, Anna grabbed a microphone attached to it, and make a final shipwide shipwide announcement

"_Attention all crew of the Republic, this is the captain speaking. I understand that It has been a tiring deployment for all of us, but I'm confident that each and everyone of you were able to do your duty to the best of your abilities, especially in the past two weeks. And for that I couldn't be more proud of you all. Now, I just have one more order before we depart…. _

_Call your families, and tell them that you'll be home in time for Christmas"_

Poorly hidden smiles were stifled cheers of joy were present on the faces of nearly every person on the bridge, and shipwide audible cheers and shouts of joy could be heard from all members of the crew not on duty knowing that not only will they be able to see for the first time in months, but actually be able to spend Christmas with their families

Satisfied with her morale boosting speech, Captain Anna Kristiansen returned the microphone back in it's holder, walked towards the center of the bridge, and sat confidently in the black, leather captain's chair.

"_Alright, then, if there's nothing else, let's go home" _said anna

_Lieutenant Olaf, disconnect from shore power"_

"_Aye captain" _replied the young officer _"disconnecting from shore power"_

"_Ensign Sven, have the mooring lines untethered, raise the anchor, and inform the tugs that we are go for departure"_

"_Aye captain"_

The 9000 tonne vessel slowly started to move as men on the docks detached the mooring lines.

The large metal anchor was raised with a loud clunk and shortly after, 2 tugboats started to tow the 500 foot long vessel towards the mouth of the harbor.

Once the warship was safely out of the harbor and was facing out into the open Mediterranian sea, the tugs swiftly disconnected their tethers to the Republic and made their way back towards Taranto, while the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer slowly accelerated into the calm open seas with the sun setting in front of them.

"_Lieutenant Olaf, maintain bearing 260 towards the strait of Gibraltar, speed: 23 knots" _

"_Aye captain, bearing 260, cruising speed at 23 knots, estimated travel time to Norfolk: 8 days, and 3 hours. Tentative ETA: 23rd December 14:00 hours, Eastern Standard Time. " _

By now, the sun had fully set and had been replaced by the beautiful starry night sky uncorrupted by light pollution, after one final glance out of the window before leaving the bridge and turning in for the night, Anna looked at the still excitedly smiling faces of her bridge crew and thought of how happy they found out that they will be spending Christmas with their families. Then frowned as she remembered that she will be spending yet another one... alone.


	2. Ch 2: The Oncoming Storm

15 December 1840 North Atlantic Ocean

Aboard a 200 foot sail ship heading northwards from the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Queen Elsa of Arendelle was exhausted, frustrated, and had an agonizing migraine.

Several days of non-stop negotiations to free up trade relations with Portugal had completely broken down, and the worst part of it all is that Elsa couldn't really blame them.

The fact of the matter is that as a small island kingdom barely the size of Luxembourg, Arendelle simply didn't have a lot to offer its neighbors and partners.

It had no valuable natural mineral deposits that anyone would've wanted; held no strategic importance geographically because it's ports froze every winter, and is geographically so far out from any of the major shipping lanes that most merchants just skip Arendelle all together in favor of Norway; and imports, and what little exports to and from Arendelle would be eye-gougingly expensive due to the high shipping costs.

Elsa had always thought of her kingdom's isolation as a double edged sword, on one hand, it's strategic and economic insignificance meant that most major imperial powers won't even bother to give Arendelle an acknowledgement before moving on to bigger neighboring threats like Sweden, Norway, and Denmark; indeed, Arendelle hasn't fought a single war against another nation since the 17th century, and it's people have enjoyed over 200 years of relative peace. On the other hand, her kingdom's isolation also meant that it will never be a competitive power in the region, and that her people might never become as prosperous as say...the Prussians, or the British.

Deciding that moping wasn't going to do her headache any good, Elsa decided to leave her quarters and to go up to the poop deck in order to pass some time and clear her head.

Seeing their monarch climbing up the stairs that led to the poop deck/ bridge , the crew quickly stood at attention, bowing their heads before uttering a respectful "_Your Majesty" _when she reached the top.

Elsa frowned at the crew's gesture before walking towards the rear end of the poop deck to gaze off into the sunset, one hand on the railing. Although she admired and appreciated the great respect her crew had towards her, Elsa couldn't help but be saddened at the great social barrier that separated her from literally everyone else, to them, she was _Her Majesty, Queen Elsa of the Kingdom of Arendelle, Sovereign of her_ _realm, protector of the faith._ Every aspect of her life revolved around her title and role, and every interaction dictated by procedure and protocol. She could never be just "Elsa", the 22 year old woman who likes ice skating, making snowmen, and eating unhealthy amounts of chocolate. No, she had a kingdom of over two-hundred thousand subjects to lead and defend.

Elsa understood her duty, and always tried her best to execute it; however, Elsa can't help but wonder sometimes at what her life would be like if she had just been another citizen, no pressure of having an entire kingdom to lead, no burden of having to live by a strict code of conduct, and having the freedom to make her own life decisions.

The irony is not lost on Elsa, she's the most powerful person in her Kingdom, with no power over her own life. She has two hundred thousand people at her whim, yet dares to argue that she's the loneliest person in Arendelle.

"_Lonely" _Elsa thought. If there was one word that could describe her time as queen, it was definitely lonely. Elsa continued to stare off into the horizon deep in thought. She knew that as the sovereign, she would be expected to bear an heir to the throne very soon. Elsa cringed and shuddered at the thought, bearing an heir would mean finding a husband, and as the monarch, she would be expected to marry some king or prince that she barely knows, from whichever country Arendelle would benefit the most being united with.

"_The council probably already has a whole list of people in mind" _Elsa bitterly thought.

Although she understood that it was her duty as Sovereign, Elsa was absolutely repulsed at the idea of a loveless marriage, she remembered attending countless royal weddings back when she was still a little princess, and whenever she looked at the publicly smiling faces of the newly betrothed, she always see sadness and defeated looks in their eyes, well... save for the one or two that genuinely fell in love with whom they were arranged to wed.

Another reason for her reluctance to take on a husband was a more personal matter, it was something that only Elsa is aware of, no one, not even her parents before they died were aware of her deep dark secret. Elsa, the queen of Arendelle, was queer.

Elsa closed her eyes with that thought. She knew something wasn't right when she always found herself staring inappropriately at visiting princesses and a few of her female staff, at first, she dismissed it merely as curiosity, but as time went on, Elsa found herself lusting more and more for the fairer sex with no interest at all for men.

Elsa finally came to the realization of her "unconventional" gender orientation when she was 16 and found herself getting warm "down there" when she found herself in her daily night time hobby of staring at people changing in the female castle staff bedrooms with a telescope her father had bought her.

Elsa's headache intensified as she recalled those days.

"_UUGH, STOP IT ELSA YOU ARE A QUEEN FOR GOD'S SAKE" _ a voice in her head scolded.

"_A queen who also happens to be a queer pervert and a peeping tom" _another voice sounded

Elsa was so enamoured in her own thoughts her she didn't notice another person approaching her

"_Your Majesty" _said the voice

_you're alright Ya? You seem a bit off this fine evening."_

Elsa turned around to face the owner of the voice, who happens to be the most decorated captain of the Arendellian fleet, Captain Oaken.

" _Thank You for your concern captain, but I'm...fine" _replied Elsa with an uncertain register in her voice.

"_Very well you're Majesty, anyways, I wish this was a social call, but I'm afraid I have some concerns that I think you should be aware of Ya?_

By This point, Elsa was completely snapped out of her trance and back into full "Sovereign of the Kingdom" mode

"_I understand captain, thank you for your diligence. Now, the bad news? " _

"_Yes, uuh… there are two actually, the first problem being an approaching storm that the ship is due to encounter tonight"_

"_Storm?!" _said Elsa an octave higher than normal. Her parent's death at sea by the hands of a storm understandably made her very nervous.

"_No, No, No, Your Majesty, We have nothing to fear from the storm, it's a bit strong, but nothing this mighty vessel hasn't gone through before, It will be a rough ride and cause a slight delay in our arrival back in Arendelle, but it is really more of an annoyance than a threat" _the expert seaman said in a reassuring voice.

"_Okay… what's the other problem?"_ asked the monarch.

Captain Oaken gave Elsa a portable telescope and pointed at a direction behind the ship.

Elsa placed the telescope on her right eye and aimed it in the direction and saw 4 small black specs in the distance.

"_Those ships have been following us for days, ever since we left Portugal" _explained Oaken with a worried voice.

_At first, we thought nothing of them but as merchant ships, travelling in the same general direction as us, but when I ordered the crew to steer the Royal Yacht off the shipping lanes as a precaution, but those ships continued to follow us, albeit at a farther distance as to not give themselves away_

_It has now become obvious Your Majesty, those four ships are on a pursuit course, and we're the target"_

Elsa was now in full leader mode, she looked at the captain with a determined but stoic face.

"_Understood captain, what do we know about them so far?" _

The captain's response was not comforting at all to the queen

"_We could not identify the national markings of any of the ships while we observed them, but they do appear to be clipper ships your Majesty. Clippers are fast and maneuverable you see, often able to regularly sail at up to 16 knots if the winds permit. It would be a miracle on the other hand, if the royal yacht could even hit 12 knots."_

"_The Royal Yacht is armed, is that correct?" _Asked Elsa.

"_Yes Your Majesty" _replied the captain._ "And my crew are the best that Arendelle's fleet could offer" _Oaken said in a reassuring voice. _"But you should know, your majesty. The odds of us defeating one of those ships one on one is almost certain, but four at once…" _said the captain with a trailing tone of worry and uncertainty in his voice.

Elsa looked into the telescope once again, her face filled with worry

"_So we can't run, have nowhere to hide, we're also out-numbered, and out-gunned" _Elsa thought.

"_We will protect you with our lives your Majesty" _ Oaken said with conviction. _I'll rouse the crew and make preparations. Your Majesty, for the time being, you should stay in your room and lock the doors, it's the safest part of the ship "_

Knowing that she was way out of her depth at this point, Elsa conceded to the burly captain, and after a few words of encouragement and well-wishes, she retreated to her quarters and activated the multiple locks on the reinforced door. Praying that everything will be alright.


	3. Ch 3: The Fight for Our Lives

16th December 1840 0200hrs

It had been a few hours since Elsa had decided to retreat into her reinforced quarters, and in that time the mood onboard the ship had changed dramatically. She could feel the tension on the ship rise exponentially with every passing second. As much as she knew that there was nothing she could do but step aside and let her soldiers do their jobs, Elsa felt completely helpless and couldn't help but let a sense of fear and dread manifest within her. She started to imagine scenarios in her head while pacing around the dimly lit room.

"_What if the ship sinks?" _She ponders_. "What if I'm captured? what would these people do to me?" _

Suddenly, the sound of knuckles making contact with her door could be heard

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

Elsa opened the door, and an obviously stressed, but calm Captain Oaken stepped inside, closed the door, and sat across the queen on the couch

"_Good evening your Majesty" _he greeted

"_Hello captain" _Replied the queen. _"Can I have a status update on our pursuers please?"_

"_Of course, Ma'am, we haven't managed to gain much information on our pursuers since we've last spoken, we couldn't find any flags on any of the ships, but what we can deduce based on markings on the ships is that they we're all at some point registered in the Southern Isles. _

"_The Southern Isles" _Repeated Elsa with vitriol in her voice.

The Kingdom of the Southern Isles was a small country of about a hundred and fifty thousand people, it was a little smaller than Arendelle, and was located about 100 miles to dit's South-East. Like Arendelle, the Southern Isles faced the same lack of economic and political potential due to it's geographical isolation, and like Arendelle, The Southern Isles have also been trying to overcome those barriers. However, unlike Elsa, who preferred more peaceful means of expanding her kingdom's influence through trade and diplomacy (despite her lack of success as of the moment); the Southern Isles had always preferred to use any means possible to gain more prominence in the European Theatre, and that meant through expanding into the sovereign territories of neighboring nations.

The rulers of the Southern Isles weren't dumb (much to Elsa's dismay), they knew that trying to expand into the lands of major powers like Sweden, Norway, and God forbid: The British Empire would be suicide for the Southern Isles. So what they've been trying to do instead is a campaign of subterfuge with a goal to destabilize and push the insignificant smaller nations around them to the brink of collapse before sweeping in as the "hero who brings stability and peace"; annexing those nations as part of the Kingdom of the Southern Isles in the process, all under the noses of the major powers.

Elsa herself had fallen for the Southern isles "peacemaker" propaganda a few years back, but she grew increasingly suspicious of their practices ever since the mysterious death the Duke of Weselton, a small, mostly agricultural duchy of about 20,000 people to the east. Something just didn't line up with the Duke's death…according the autopsy report (which was also suspiciously commissioned by the Embassy of the Southern Isles), the man died of "food poisoning" after a private banquet with representatives of the Southern Isles at his residence. Normally, Elsa would've dismissed his death in their presence as a mere unfortunate coincidence, but the swiftness and enthusiasm of the Southern Isles' government's response by assigning a "consultant" as a "guide to the new ruler" immediately raised red flags… and as she feared, the new Duke of Weselton made the decision to abdicate, and invite the Southern Isles to annex their territories a year later, his reasoning being that: "Weseltonians will live much better prosperous, industrialized lives under the Kingdom of the Southern Isles" But Elsa had a feeling that the move was less than voluntary on the new Duke's part.

Elsa knew very well that Arendelle is in the Southern Isles' wish list for expansion and she had prepared herself accordingly, but she had never imagined that they would actually be as bold as to directly go after her at sea.

"_Captain Oaken" _said Elsa.

"_Yes your Majesty?" _Oaken replied

"_I think I may know the Identity of our pursuers and their intentions. You said the ships were not flagged, but all of them were registered in the Southern Isles, is that correct? "_

" _Affirmative, Your Majesty"_

"_Captain, as you may know, the Southern Isles hasn't always played by the rules when it comes to expanding their territory as observed by their annexation of the Duchy of Weselton with the mysterious death of the Duke" _explained the queen with an emphasis on mysterious.

The captain nodded with confirmation

"_Your Majesty?" _Interrupted the captain._ "are you saying that those ships pursuing us are of the government of the Southern Isles, and that they're here to assassinate you? "_

Elsa shook her head. _"No, I don't think their government would be dumb enough to directly send their own ships after us, they needed something more discreet, meaining its more likely that our pursuers are mercenaries or privateers that were paid off by the Southern Isles government." _

_And Since I have no heir, If they kill me, then Arendelle will be leader-less, which will create a power vacuum, inevitably leading to infighting and chaos, at which time the Southern Isles will once again step in as the one bringing peace and stability in Arendelle, most likely create some sort of puppet state, before directly annexing Arendelle as part of their territory"_

_I know this seems far fetched captain-" defended Elsa_

_No, it makes perfect sense your Majesty. _The captain agreed. _"With that information ma'am, I think I may have a time frame for their attack"_

"_Oh?"_

"_Yes, Ma'am, if those ships are of the Southern Isles and their intentions truly are to assassinate you, your Majesty, then it is likely that they will attack during the storm and claim that your ship went down under the waves as an act of God, not only that, but as their ships are of a clipper design, the high winds of the oncoming storm would grant them a significant boost in speed, giving them an extra tactical advantage_" deduced the captain

Elsa thought about it for a few seconds before making her own deductions _"yes captain, that is logical… anyways, we know their motives, and we have a possible time of attack…" _The queens voice trailed off, not knowing what to say or do next.

Knowing the odds and how they were so impossibly stacked against them, Elsa may not have shown it in her voice, but by this point, she was absolutely terrified at what may be about to transpire and was near despair.

"_Right now your Majesty, I have ordered all crew to battle stations, ordered full sail, and changed our course towards English territorial waters. Hopefully, we'll come across a ship or two of the British Royal Navy on patrol to even out the odds" _explained the captain._ "It's a long shot your Majesty, but right now it's our best chance at survival. I just hope we'll find the Royal navy before the storm-" _

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOM! SPLASH!_

Just as the captain said those words, loud explosions and something hitting the water could be heard.

"_Stay here your Majesty" _The captain ordered before running outside.

The moment that captain Oaken had been fearing was here, the four pursuing ships had set full sail and were now bearing on the royal yacht, guns blazing.

_BOOOOM! BOOM! SPLASH ! BOOOM! BOOM! CRASH!_

The crew were now at battle stations loading up the cannons with shells, and getting ready to return fire.

BOOOM! CRAAASH!

The Royal yacht had taken a direct hit on the bow just above the water line, the cannon shell penetrated the wooden hull, and had caused a fire to start within the ship, damage control crews quickly down towards to fire to contain it's spread

The Royal yacht of Arendelle may have been damaged and on fire, but she was definitely not out for the count.

"_EVASIVE MANEUVERS! HARD TO PORT! BROADSIDE TO BEARING!"_ yelled the captain.

The Royal Yacht made a zig zag maneuver, dodging shells and bullets before turning 90 degrees; with broadside guns facing the enemy ships.

"_PORT LONG RANGE CANNONS! FOCUS ON THE CLOSEST SHIP! FIRE!"_

12 individual explosions could be heard as the cannons aboard the royal yacht shot a volley at the nearest ship, with one of the shells scoring a direct hit, penetrating it's hull, but despite the damage, all four ships were still bearing down on the royal yacht.

"_PORT LONG RANGE CANNONS RELOAD!, PORT MEDIUM RANGE CANNONS! FIRE!" _

Another 12 explosions, as another volley was fired at the closest ship and all shots missed.

"_HARD TO STARBOARD !, SET FULL SAIL, RELOAD PORT GUNS, STARBOARD GUNS AT THE READY "_ commanded the captain

The crew quickly did as they were told as the ship slowly turned right to aim it's starboard guns at the enemy ships, all while distant explosions of the enemy cannons sounding, and with bullets and shells whizzing by their heads, most of which missed and harmlessly hit the ocean.

Suddenly, _**BOOOOOOOOOM !**_

Another explosion, Deck crews were thrown off their feet as a shockwave knocked them into the nearest solid object as the royal yacht took another direct hit on the stern poop deck near the steering wheel, killing the man at the wheel immediately and reducing the steering wheel to pieces of broken wood and splinters

The Royal Yacht had lost rudder control and was now stuck in a starboard turn.

All while the battle is going on, Queen Elsa was huddled in a corner in her steel reinforced room, safe from the shockwaves and shrapnel. She was sobbing with tears rolling down her cheeks as she realized that these might very well be her final moments on earth.

"_PLEASE PLEASE. OH GOD PLEASE I Don't Wanna die, I don't wanna die!" _Thought Elsa in her head.

While the battle was raging on, with explosions sounding, shells and bullets flying, and people yelling, the sea had grown much rougher, the waves were now as high as 20 feet and winds, ever increasing in speed were now bearing down on the combating ships under the overcast night sky. The crews on both sides however, were too preoccupied with shooting at their enemy to be concerned.

Suddenly, A light blue fog seemingly appeared out of nowhere and slowly enveloped the royal yacht and her combatants.

Despite the menacing look of the fog, By now the people aboard the royal yacht and the ships she was duelling were either too focused on doing nothing but their jobs to keep the fight going, or too distracted by the fighting to take notice. Despite the obvious large cloud enveloping them, All that was on the crews minds were evade... reload...aim… fire...evade… reload… aim… fire… evade… reload… aim…fire…

The crews on all ships continued their unawreness of the light blue fog until the vapors from it entered their lungs, suddenly, the people aboard all of the ships found themselves unable to breathe, they all desperately kept trying to gasp for oxygen but to no avail, and one by one, everyone fell unconscious, until there was no one left.

The guns went silent.


	4. Ch 4: Detected

**18 December 2020 0800 hrs**

With the sun slowly rising from the eastern horizon, the USS Republic sailed majestically with her bow pointed towards the open Atlantic ocean with what little land still visible quickly disappearing over the horizon, the destroyer had docked in Gibraltar the night before to top off her tanks and it now had in it, more than enough fuel for the trans-Atlantic voyage, Captain Anna Kristiansen was sitting on the captain's chair aboard the vessel's bridge looking down at shipwide status reports and weather updates on her iPad with a frown on her face…

"_something doesn't seem to add up" _she thought.

Walking up towards his captain from the chief navigator's station, a concerned looking Commander Kristoff Bjornman noticed his captain's frown.

"_Everything Alright captain?"_

Anna Swiveled her chair around to face the first officer and replied in a casual tone. _"Peachy commander, it's just that… look at this" _ Anna handed the XO her iPad; when he looked down at it, Kristoff saw a North Atlantic weather map and squinted his eyes in confusion._"Uuh.. captain, this is a satellite weather reading"_

"_Yes it is commander _'' said Anna with a pointed look on her face_. a satellite reading of an area that we've been monitoring for days"_. She pointed her finger at a red blur on the weather radar about 200 kilometers in diameter, and about 120 nautical miles ahead of them, the red blur indicated a very low-pressure area, or in other words, a large storm. _"You see this LPA right here right in the middle of our planned route? that entire weather system wasn't there 20 minutes ago" _

Commander Bjornman looked incredulously at his Captain while handing back her iPad.

"_With all due respect captain, What do you mean it wasn't there?, LPAs don't just form out of nowhere, if there was a storm brewing in the Atlantic, we would've noticed it forming before we left Taranto." _

"_Exactly commander" _replied Captain Kristiansen. _"Especially a weather system of this magnitude". _added the captain while Looking down and furiously tapping on the iPad_. "200 kilometers in diameter, and sustained winds of up to 160 kph." _

"_Look Commander Bjornman, Category 2 hurricanes don't just appear out of nowhere, especially ones of such sheer size, AND the fact that it's smack in the middle of our projected course, meaning there's no way that we could've simply missed it, so either both the weather satellite feed and weather radar is broken, or something isn't right about this storm, and frankly commander, I'm leaning towards the latter."_

Kristoff made a gesture to Anna to hand him the iPad, which she promptly did. Kristoff then tapped the playback button for the weather radar and set it back about 20 minutes. And sure enough, the iPad showed clear skies over the entire North Atlantic until the giant storm in question genuinely appeared out of thin air about 18 minutes ago.

"_What in the…" _mumbled a confused Kristoff while constantly replaying and refreshing the weather radar feed.

"_See commander, that storm appeared out of nowhere, and we are now heading straight into it. By my estimate, we'll enter the outer edges of the storm in about 5 and a half hours" _

"_Alright captain,_ said Kristoff in an exasperated voice._ I stand corrected". "Anyways, strange or not, there's no denying that we're headed straight into a category 2 hurricane, what's our next course of action ma'am?" _

Anna pondered for a minute, according to the weather radar, she could expect up to 20 ft waves near the eye of the storm, nothing an Arleigh Burke destroyer like the Republic couldn't handle, and they'd only have to go through the outer disk of the hurricane, where the storm's effects should be even more tame. She could keep going on, and face a really rough ride, or change course and add an extra few days to their trip.

"_This storm is nothing the Republic can't shrug off commander, I'm certain we'll be fine" _replied the captain to her XO.

Anna then turned to face the navigator. _"lieutenant Olaf, maintain course and speed"_

"_aye captain"_

Anna walked back towards a microphone to make another ship wide announcement

_Attention crew of the Republic" _Began Anna in her _captain _voice. "_ this is the captain speaking, we'll be passing through the outer edge of a category 2 hurricane at around 1330 hours, so expect a rough ride, ETA at Norfolk will be unaffected. Outer doors and hatches will be closed at 1300 hours, and all crew are to be inside by then. Captain Kristiansen Out._

Anna placed the mic back in it's slot, walked back to her station, and sat down on the captain's chair.

**18 December 2020 1400hrs**

The USS Republic had entered the storm. According to the weather radar, the sustained winds were now at 50 mph at the ship's position, and the seas were getting visibly choppier, Anna was passing time sitting on the captain's chair, and looking out of the bridge windows with a mug of tea held in her right hand while the rest of the bridge crew sat at their usual stations doing their jobs with nothing out of the ordinary worth reporting.

No one aboard the ship was really worried about the storm, except for a few newly enlisted, the crew understood that a destroyer like the Republic has taken on and shrugged off much larger storms than the one they were in, so save for a few seamen who were about to throw-up from seasickness, the mood onboard the naval vessel was pretty calm as is rode the waves heading westwards while being pushed going up and down, and side to side.

After another 30 minutes in the storm…

"_What the hell…" _said Anna in a startled voice,she quickly stood up from her chair and looked out of the window in complete shock. The Captain's reaction was mirrored all over the bridge as the bridge crew stopped everything that they were doing and looked out of the windows with baffled looks on their faces. Down below, crew members also began to look out of their nearest portholes with disbelief.

The storm that was causing 20 ft waves and rocking the 500 foot, 9000 tonne destroyer like a rag doll, registering as a category 2 hurricane with winds of up to 100 miles per hour… just disappeared right before their eyes. Leaving behind a blue and sunny sky, and no signs that it had ever been there.

_Lieutenant Sven" _Ordered commander Kristoff Bjornman, _"display the satellite weather feed, and activate the ship's on board weather radar"_

"_Aye commander" _ lieutenant sven quickly tapped a few icons on his display screen, and two separate windows popped out: one was a live satellite feed that displayed a map of the North Atlantic with several tiny colored smudges showing weather systems, and the other was a traditional radar display showing any weather disturbances around the ship.

Both of which showed clear skies all around, as if the storm that the ship was in had never happened. Captain Anna and Commander Kristoff stared at the screen in disbelief…

"_How could this- ..._mumbled Anna

"_I have no idea ma'am…" replied Kristoff _

"BLOOP…. BLOOP…. BLOOP… BLOOP… BLOOP…"

Suddenly Another alarm sounded, the whole bridge crew turned their heads towards the station that was making the offending noise. That sound turned out to be from the OTF Radar that is used to detect other ships around the vicinity of the destroyer.

The officer at the radar was obviously alarmed, yelled in a loud voice that echoes throughout the bridge

"_CAPTAIN, MULTIPLE UNKNOWN VESSELS DETECTED ON RADAR! _


	5. Ch 5: Hope on the Horizon

Aboard the now heavily damaged Royal Yacht of Arendelle, Queen Elsa opened her eyes to a sharp headache in her head. _"What happened"_ she thought out loud.

The last thing she remembered before blacking out was suffocating and curling up into a ball while gunshots, explosions, and cannon fire sounded outside. Opening the door and peeking her head outside before stepping out and standing by the doorframe, Elsa nearly threw up at what she saw. The once pristine and organized oak deck of the Royal yacht was now covered with holes, shrapnel, soot, and blood spatters; The smell of death and ignited gunpowder stuck in the air like napalm; dead and mortally wounded lay scattered across the top deck, manyl groaning in agony.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elsa saw Captain Oaken slowly gain full consciousness with a groan, he then commanded one of the deck hands to do something she couldn't hear; The captain's face was covered with dirt and soot, and as he Turned his head and spotted the Queen out of her armoured cabin, Still holding onto the handrails to balance himself, the captain yelled at the queen in a startled voice.

"_YOUR MAJESTY?!" "get back in your cabin, it's not safe out here" _

Not used to the blood and gore of battle, Elsa stood blankly in front of her door in shock, with a hand covering her mouth, unable to process the scene in front of her. Her entire body was now completely stiff, like her brain had stopped functioning.

This stiffness did not last long however, as the Queen quickly felt a strong hand grab her hand. And with a small shriek, Elsa found herself dragged back into the safety of her cabin, the door slamming shut behind her with a loud _"BANG"_

snapping out of her trance, Elsa frantically looked around her surroundings, then at the battle scarred captain, , Elsa said to the captain with a stutter in her voice_" O-Oh my God! Captain Oaken, are you alright?" _All signs of regality in her voice gone

The captain tried to reassure the monarch with an obviously fake smile. _"Tis but a scratch ma'am, I have been through worse. However, I am duty bound to inform you your majesty, that while I personally may be fine, our chances of winning this battle as the odds stand are slim"_ the captain said with a sad tone in his voice. _" We shall fight to the death your Majesty, but nothing short of a miracle could assure us a victory now. _

_There is some good news though… It appeared that it wasn't only us that have lost consciousness when the mysterious fog engulfed our ships. _The captain then pointed out at how all of the other ships have ceased firing on the Royal Yacht, and were continuously sailing to starboard despite the royal yacht now turning hard to port when captain ordered a deckhand to manually turn the rudder from below decks.

_The Ship is heavily wounded, your Majesty_" said Oaken while blankly pulling out and lighting a cigar. "_The strange fog may have bought us some time, and we are pulling away from our attackers, but we're barely doing 5 knots right now and there is little chance of us escaping into the horizon before they wake up and pursue us once again. _

The captain concluded his short situation report with a somber tone is his voice and look on his face. He sighed and said, _"Your majesty, all I can say is: we'll give our lives to make sure you get out of here alive and back to Arendelle" _

By this point, Elsa felt empty, she thought about the blood shed just outside her door and incoming final battle, then she thought about her parents who perished at sea only 4 years earlier and darkly chuckled at the cruel coincidence that her death will also be out on the unforgiving ocean. Elsa had accepted her fate by this point and was now back in her queenly demeanor and decided to directly address the crew of the Royal Yacht for the first and last time

"_Captain Oaken" _said Queen Elsa in a stoic voice. _"Come with me"_

The captain and the monarch exited the room and walked onto the open deck side by side, where looks despair, hopelessness, and fear were present on the faces of even the most veteran sailors.

Elsa and captain Oaken walked towards the center of the deck and ordered the Captain to call the crew to attention.

"_ATTENTION!" _Oaken yelled loudly into a cylindrical loudhailer.

The weary faces of the crew slowly turned towards the origin of that command, those who could slowly marched towards the captain, and Monarch. After a while a significant number of crew members had gathered around them, forming a semi-circle. Elsa then grabbed the metal loudhailer and took a deep breath before speaking in the most regal, yet emphatic voice she could muster.

"_Attention crew of the Royal Yacht of Arendelle, this the the queen speaking… _Elsa paused for a second thinking of what she wanted to say, all while more and more crewmen were crowded towards her in curiosity. _"When we set off on this journey from the docks of Arendelle a month ago, we expected a routine trip… _" Elsa sighed and paused yet again. She was supposed to give an inspiring speech but by this point, she was completely at a loss at what to say…

Before she could continue however, A loud bell followed by yell enhanced by a loudhailer could be heard from the top of the crows nest

"_SHIP DEAD AHEAD!"_

The crew quickly scattered and ran to their designated battle stations while the captain grabbed the loudhailer from Elsa and replied to the crewman at the crows nest.

"_IS THE SHIP ONE OF THE ATTACKERS?!" yelled the captain _

"_NO SIR, IN FACT, I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT SIR. I THINK YOU SHOULD COME UP HERE AND SEE FOR YOURSELF_ replied the crewman.

Captain Oaken looked up at the crows nest in contemplation and sighed.

"_ALRIGHT I'm COMING UP" _he then turned towards Elsa. "stay here your Majesty"

Captain Oaken quickly climbed onto the net ladders and made his way up onto the crows nest perched on the highest mast 200 feet above the sea and greeted the crewman with a salute before getting down to business.

"_First thing's first sailor, what's the status of our attackers" _asked the captain.

With a dutiful voice, the crewman pointed towards the ship's 180 and said to the captain while handing him his telescope _"They've appeared to have woken up and realized that we've slipped away about 5 minutes ago, sir." _

Looking through the lenses. Oaken confirmed that all four of the ships had changed their heading and were now once again bearing down on them. He estimated in his head that their attackers will be within firing range of the Yacht in about 15 minutes.

"_Shit"_

Turning back towards the crewman,Oaken then asked about their potential rescuer

"_What about the other ship you've spotted crewman?"_

Pointing at another direction in front of the ship the crewman explained. _"I've just spotted it a few minutes ago captain, the vessel is about 15 nautical miles away judging by our speed and the time of their appearance from the horizon" _the crewman explained.

Captainlooked pointed the telescope towards the mysterious ship. What he saw shook him to the core.

"_How in the world?... " _said the captain, shock and preplexion in his voice.

The ship was unlike anything he had seen before, it's size dwarfed the royal yacht and any other ship in Arendellian Royal Navy, in fact, it was bigger than anything even the British Royal Navy had in it's arsenal. But the thing that startled him the most was the distinct lack of sails and masts, yet the ship seemed to be travelling faster than any other vessel he had ever seen.

Oaken thought "Maybe it was one of those new fangled steam ships" but quickly dismissed that thought as even steamships would've had sail masts as an auxiliary and there would've been large paddlewheels on it's side; steam engines were slow compared to clipper sailing ships, not to mention extremely unreliable and expensive. it was the reason why only the British and French could afford to take the risk of building them en masse and why Arendelle didn't have a steam ship in it's fleet.

Looking through the telescope once more, captain Oaken could clearly see the outlines of a cannon on the vessel's bow "A Warship!" thought Oaken. He couldn't identify it due to the distance but he could clearly the outline of a flag.

Oaken was skeptical that the ship may be hostile mercenaries or pirates, but then deduced that it was impossible for any mercenary or pirate to afford to a ship of such size and speed.

"We need to get their attention" said Oaken.

Oaken grabbed the loudhailer and pointed it down towards the deck.

"_GRAB A HELIOGRAPH AND POINT IT THAT WAY" _

"_INVERT THE FLAG" _Oaken commanded

With his command, a crewman quickly came out with a tripod with a lot of mirrors attached on it and started directing rays of sun at the mysterious ship. Meanwhile, another crewman took all the flags on the ship and started flying them upside down to signal their distress. Meanwhile back on the crows nest Oaken was getting ready to climb back down to the main deck. _"Crewman, start signalling that ship and don't stop until I tell you to" _said the captain while climbing over the crew's nest and onto the ladder

"_Aye captain" _ The crewman then grabbed 2 signalling flags and started making signals at the mysterious ship.

"_Let's hope they'll see us"_ mumbled captain Oaken while glancing back at their attackers closing in on them then back at the mysterious ship.


	6. Ch 6: Target Locked

Aboard the bridge of the USS Republic, Anna, Kristof, and the rest of the crew were still looking out of the window and gawking at the sudden disappearance of the large storm that was tossing around the destroyer like a rag doll just a few seconds ago. Shock and confusion was present in the eyes of every person on the ship. A category 2 hurricane pretty much just appeared and disappeared before their eyes and no one could believe what the hell had just happened.

Suddenly…

"_BLOOP… BLOOP… BLOOP… BLOOP… BLOOP…_

A shout from one of the radar officers could be heard

'"_CAPTAIN! FIVE UNIDENTIFIED VESSELS DETECTED ON RADAR" _

Almost immediately, all thoughts about the storm were forgotten as everyone on the bridge suddenly snapped back to reality with the captain quickly asking for more information from said radar officer.

"_Ensign! Status of vessels?" _yelled the captain

"_Yes Captain" _responded the sailor. The crewman quickly typed out a few keys on the keyboard at his station and 5 white dots appeared on the screen.

_five unknown contacts on OTF radar, IFF of all vessels: unable to determine" _reported the crewman. Typing on a few more keys, he gave each of the dots a designation followed by their position relative to the Republic's

target alpha: speed, 6 knots, bearing 193.5 at 12.83 nautical miles.

target bravo: 14 knots, bearing 198.1 at 16.2 nautical miles.

target charlie: 15 knots bearing 190.0 at 16.3 nautical miles.

target delta: 13 knots, bearing 192.1 at 16.1 nautical miles.

target echo: 14 knots, bearing 190.5 at 16.2 nautical miles.

"_I'm receiving no transponder signals from any of the vessels nor is there a voyage plan on record ma'am. _

Anna held a stoic look on her face while looking at the radar screen. _Thank You crewman"_

Anna then turned towards lieutenant Sven at the communications station

Then at Commander Kristof.

"Lieutenant_ Sven hail the ship on all frequencies"_ said Anna with volume in her voice

"_Aye Captain!"_ Responded Sven

"ATTENTION! UNKNOWN VESSELS, THIS IS THE UNITED STATES NAVAL WARSHIP USS REPUBLIC, IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND ALTER COURSE OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO DEFENSIVE ACTIONS. OVER.

"REPEAT, UNKNOWN VESSELS, THIS IS THE UNITED STATES NAVAL WARSHIP USS REPUBLIC, IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND ALTER COURSE OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO DEFENSIVE ACTIONS. OVER.

After broadcasting for a second time and hearing no response, Ensign Sven swiveled his chair towards Anna.

"No response from any of the unknown ship's captain, and they're still bearing down on our position.

Anna grabbed a set of binoculars and walked towards a window on the starboard side of the bridge, she then turned her head towards her first officer and uttered with utmost focus and professionalism in her voice: _"Set General Quarters" _

"_Aye Captain" _replied commander Kristoff.

Kristoff quickly ran towards a console and pressed a button. Suddenly, an alarm could be heard throughout the ship and every sailor aboard the Republic quickly fell back on their training and started sprinting towards their assigned stations.

Commander Kristoff grabbed a mic from a console _"General Quarters, General Quarters, All hands to assigned battlestations, this is not a drill. Transit up and forward starboard side, down and aft port side" _Kristoff announced into the ship-wide broadcast mic.

Down below, sailors locked and loaded the numerous auto-cannons and machine gun nests positions fixed throughout the sides of the ship; inside, watertight compartments are sealed, heavy doors were shut, hatches closed. Down in the ship magazine, robot cranes hooked on a 5 inch shell and loaded it into the front cannon, meanwhile all missile launchers were brought online and loaded and AEGIS defensive countermeasures were brought online..

On the bridge, Anna was on the phone with the ship's CIC while looking out of the window through her binoculars.

"_CIC, this is the Captain, HOW THE HELL DID FIVE SHIPS JUST SLIP RIGHT THROUGH OUR DEFENCES UNDER OUR NOSES?!" Hollered the captain in an angry voice._

"_Captain, There was no indication of any vessel approaching Republic on all our radars, including the VLF ma'am." _replied a TOA in a calm but respectful tone.

"_So what you're saying is that they're either ships with a new type of stealth technology or can teleport from god knows where ? " The captain asked sarcastically_ while scanning the seas with her binoculars.

"_Well… uh… captain... If they were stealth ships ma'am they're definitely not anymore; according to radar these unknown vessels have an unusually large RCS for any vessel with stealth capabilities._

Anna was still trying to find the ships when her binoculars when Lieutenant Sven swiveled his chair 180 degrees to face the captain.

"_Captain, I've tried hailing the vessels more than ten times now, no response from any of them and they're still bearing down on our position. _

As Lieutenant Sven ended his status report, Kristoff, who was on the phone hanged up and turned towards Anna

"_I just got off the phone with CIC, these ships have not responded to any of our warnings and continue to bear down on our position, captain, I recommend taking defensive action. A Harpoon on each of the vessels should take them out_

Anna quickly turned towards Kristoff.

"_Noted Commander, but I'll have to disagree, these ships have yet to take any aggressive action towards the Republic that warrants us destroying them. We don't want to risk an international incident by accidentally destroying a civilian ship. Remember the time the Navy accidentally shot down an airliner over the Persian Gulf?" _ responded Anna

Kristoff was obviously not happy with his captain's hesitation.

"_Permission to speak freely captain? _

Anna frowned and turned towards Kristoff "granted"

"_Look captain, your deduction is logical, but if those ships are armed, they could lob missiles at us at any moment from this range. These guys just appeared out of nowhere inside our defence perimeter with no transponders ma'am, there is no voyage record of any of those ships in our database, they ignored all of our warnings, and are STILL bearing down on us; Safety wise captain, I believe it's in our best interest to conduct a preemptive strike before they get any closer._

With a frown still on her face, Anna turned back towards the window deep in thought. "He's right" a voice sounded in her head. According to Navy protocol Anna should've sent those ships to the bottom of the Atlantic by now, but she knew that Harpoon missiles could knock out any unarmoured ship with a single blow and Anna didn't know why, but she had this gut feeling that she shouldn't sink at least one of them. Plus, Anna knew that there was no way she could've ever lived with herself had she intentionally sunk and killed a civilian ship with innocent people.

With a sigh… Anna relented. _"Very good commander, target all five unknown vessels, salvo size: five, one RGM-84 per vessel"_

Kristoff picked up the phone

"_Bridge to CIC, lock target on incoming vessels,RGM-84s, Salvo size: five, one missile per target."_

"_Aye commander, unknown ships now designated enemy. Targets alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo. Speed: 6,14,15,13,14 knots respective. Bearing: 193.5, 198.1, 190, 192.1,190.5 respective. Range: 26.1, 32.8, 33, 32.6, 32.8 thousand yards respective. Target lock, 5 RGM-84s ready for fire, confirmation to fire?"_

On the bridge, the then white neutral dots that represented the unknown ships turned into a bright red hue, indicating an enemy vessel. And targeting computers indicate a lock onto the ships with a short beep.

Kristoff looked up from the phone to Anna

"_Captain, targets are locked and missiles ready, awaiting confirmation to fire"_

With a deep breath Anna looked back at the windows at the direction of the ships then back at Kristoff.

"_Lieutenant Sven, Give one last radio warning, let's see if they'll respond "_

"_Aye captain_

UNKNOWN VESSELS, THIS IS THE UNITED STATES NAVAL WARSHIP USS REPUBLIC, YOU HAVE ENTERED OUR DEFENCE PERIMITER, IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND ALTER COURSE OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE DEFENSIVE ACTIONS, THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. OVER.

After a short pause, Sven turned his chair back towards the Captain and shook his head,

"_No response Captain"_

Taking a sigh of defeat Captain Anna Kristiansen faced Commander Bjornman, nodded and uttered…

"_Fire" _

With a firm nod of acknowledgement, Kristoff placed the phone back on his ear

"_Bridge to CIC, we have captain's confirmation for launch"_

"_CIC to Bridge, confirmed launch. _

From her position on the bridge, Anna heard 5 succeeding explosions and loud whizes as the missile's rocket engines are started and roared into life, 5 succeeding bright lights and smoke trails fly high into the atmosphere as the Ship-killing weapons are launched vertically one by one lifting their deadly ordnance off the Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer's missile silos and into the clear blue sky as they make their way to their respective targets.

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

**Navy glossary; **

**TAO (Tactical Action Officer)****: **

**CIC (Combat Information Center)****:**

**Harpoon****: RGM-84 Anti-ship Missile**

**IFF:**** Identification; Friend or Foe**

**General Quarters:**** State of a ship, "All hands to battlestations"**

**RCS:****Radar Cross Section**


	7. Ch 7: What The Hell?

Anna heard 5 succeeding explosions and loud whizes as the missile's rocket engines are started and roar into life, 5 succeeding bright lights and smoke trails fly high into the atmosphere as the Ship-killing weapons are launched vertically one by one lifting their deadly ordnance off the Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer's missile silos and into the clear blue sky as they make their way to their respective targets.

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

"_BOOOM WHIIIIIISH"_

Standing in the middle of the bridge, Captain Anna Kristiansen had a really bad feeling in her stomach "something definitely isn't right about this" she thought. By this point the missiles' fuel-chugging rocket engines have cut-off and they were now utilizing their small onboard turbojets as they hugged the sea as they made their way towards their target

Meanwhile, lieutenant Olaf had his eyes glued to his screen. _"98 seconds to impact on target Alpha"_

Suddenly, while staring out the windows in the general direction of the enemy ships, Anna was momentarily blinded by a bright light that was shone into the bridge and into her eyes coming from the direction of the mysterious ships. Taking into account that it was the afternoon and the sun was on the other side of the ship, Anna deduced that the only way that glare could've hit her face from the opposite side of where the sun was is if it was redirected by some sort of reflective device or mirror... _" Ok, something definitely isn't right" _thought Anna out loud.

"_93 seconds to impact"_

Another glare of light was momentarily shone into the bridge; crossing her arms with a frown on her face, the captain was initially bewildered at the strange shining of sunlight coming from the vessels, but then after a few seconds... she had a brainwave, quickly recalling a nautical history course she took back at the Academy... that she regrettably didn't really pay attention in… Anna recalled from this course that during the age of sail and early steamship era before the advent of radio, ships in distress would use a combination of mirrors and reflective devices to shine sunlight at any potential rescuers to signal their distress alongside other signals like flying their flag upside down and flying a sail's jib backwards.

Suddenly, panic awashed the captain as she quickly started to make deductions in her head: "What if the reason these ships haven't been responding to our radio calls is because they can't? What If I'm about the destroy ships full of innocent people " she frantically thought

If those ships were in distress and unable to communicate, Anna needed a way to identify them in detail, binoculars allowed her to see the basic outline of the closest ship, which she noticed had quite a lot of sails and masts. "perhaps one of those historical replica sail ships" she thought.

"_85 seconds to impact"_

Anna turned towards the center of the bridge, facing commander Kristoff who was watching the missiles progress towards the target _"Commander" _started the captain in a stoic voice. Kristoff turned his attention away from the screen and towards Anna

"_Captain?" _said Kristoff confusedly.

"_Commander,I have a really bad feeling that we shouldn't blow up those ships. So I want clear and detailed visual on the targets and I need options"_

"_78 seconds"_

Confused about the reason why Anna wanted to do such a thing apparent in his voice, Kristoff responded.

"_Yes Captain, well uhh… they're too far off in the horizon for shipboard cameras to see in detail, and satellite cameras won't be of much help either, But I guess a reconnaissance UAV could allow you to see the targets if you want to captain._

"_65 seconds"_

"_We have a ScanEagle fueled and standing by a launch catapult right?" _Asked Anna

"_Yes captain" _The commander replied

"_Alright,I want the drone in the air and camera pointed at target alpha. Now"_

"_Aye captain" _the first officer responded dutifully

"_55 seconds"_

Kristoff marched towards a console and picked up a phone

"_Bride to hangar, this is commander Bjornman, the captain wants eyes on target alpha, we need a ScanEagle in the air… NOW "_

In the destroyer's helicopter hangar, two teams of sailors quickly rolled two pieces of equipment onto the helipad. A Boeing Institu ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Drone, and a mobile hydraulic catapult to launch said UAV. one man loaded the catapult and prepped it for launch while two other men placed it onto the catapult.

_40 Seconds_

With a loud droning sound, the UAV's engines came of life

"_WHIIIIIIIIRLLLL"_

One of the sailors then pressed a button on the catapult, releasing the drone and launching it from 0 to 60 miles per hour and into the air in seconds, and within a few feet of the launch point.

_30 seconds to impact_

The drone was now 300 feet over the sea and it's camera started to broadcast a clear detailed image of the closest ship bearing down on them onto a screen in the bridge. And what Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, and the rest of the bridge crew saw shocked them.

_20 seconds to impact_

They ordered the drone to focus on target alpha as the other ships were still too far away to see in sufficient detail even with the advanced drone cameraAnna looked up at the feed on the viewscreen. , on it she was a sailing ship, and not just any sailing ship, a heavily damaged sailing ship littered with holes indicative of battle damage. But the thing that intrigued and alarmed Anna the most was the familiar large flag it was flying on the heavily damaged ship.

**20 years ago- June, 2000 **

7 year old Anna had just moved into a new apartment with her mother when she found a new job that required her to move across the state, was looking through the boxes and opened a really old looking wooden chest, in this chest was a really old picture of a woman of in her late 20s to early 30s standing in front of an old galleon-like sailing ship, a few medals and pins, a golden pocket watch, sextant, and a faded rectangular purple and green piece of cloth with a golden flower etched in the middle.

"_Mama?" _Said a young Anna while running towards her with the picture on hand.

"_Mama, Mama, who's thiiis?" _she asked in a curious voice.

Iduna took the framed picture out of the little girls hand and wiped the dust of the picture with her hand.

"_Well I'll be…I haven't seen since when I was a little girl" _Iduna responded with a smile on her face

Turning her attention from the picture towards Anna, Iduna sat cross-legged on the floor and started to explain with excitement on her face.

_Well Anna… this woman right here, _she said pointing to the redhead in the picture_. "This is our ancestor from a veeery long time ago , your great-great-great-aunt to be exact"_

"_Ant-sest-whaat? That's a very big word Mama And that's a lot of greats " _said young Anna with a giggle.

Iduna giggled herself, then proceeded to explain further to her young daughter.

"_She's your grandma's grandma's grandma. _Iduna tried to explain.

"_That's a lot of granma hehe… did you know her?"_

"_No darling, but… I heard many great stories about her"_

Little Anna shrieked with excitement. _"Oooh stories, can you tell me one ?" _

After rummaging through the box and finding the purple and green cloth, she smiled and told Anna to sit down next to her while laying out the cloth on the hardwood floor and placing the picture of the redheaded woman, and a world map that she found on top of it.

"_Long ago, on a small island as far north as you can go, there was a kingdom called Arendelle ruled by the most beautiful queen the lands have ever seen. She was young, kind, and ruled fairly. The people of Arendelle adored her. One of those people was a poor young woman…who lived in the streets..."_

Little Anna gasped with tears in her eyes _"oh that poor thing… NO ONE should ever have to live in the streets, will she be ok ?" _

Iduna gave her a small hug _"It's ok Anna, for one cold dark evening, while she was begging in the streets, She found herself about to be attacked by a very bad man. _

Anna gasped again _"OH NOOOO"_

"_BUT, before they could touch her, another person, this time, a woman in a dark hood came up behind him and fought the bad man, punching him in the face, and knocking him out. The hooded woman in her pity for the poor woman led her off the streets and towards the safety of the castle, where she revealed herself to be the beautiful and fair queen of Arendelle. Then... _

Anna shrieked out loud again _"OOh OOH, SHE KISSED HER AND THEY GOT MARRIED AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTEERRR._

Iduna burst out laughing _"No little one, BUT… the queen in her kindness and pity, gave the poor woman food and shelter before giving her an escape from poverty by granting entry into her Navy Academy. _

Anna was a little confused by this point but was still listening intently as Iduna continued her story.

"_As the poor woman graduated from the Naval academy of Arendelle and began serving aboard the queen's fleet, but despite her busy schedule, she and the queen stayed the best of friends, spending as much time together as they could, growing Closer… and closer… every day. The two were practically inseparable according to some. _

_It wasn't long before they became best friends, and the poor woman found herself falling in love with the queen."_

Anna shrieked in excitement again.

But by this point Iduna's tone had become more somber and a frown was now visible on her face. _"But, before she could confess to her love, the queen left the shores of Arendelle for a short trip, but never returned… "_

"_WHAAAAT" _Anna screamed. _"What happened to the queen? What happened to the poor woman? Where's the happy ending ?"_

Iduna gave Little Anna a sad smile _"Anna, not all stories have a happy ending and bad things happen" _She then held both of Anna's hands in her own. _"But remember Anna, when bad things do happen, no matter how bad it gets or bad things hit you. Always, and I mean ALWAYS get back up and fight for what YOU believe in by doing the next right thing. Do you understand Anna? _

"_Yes mama… but did the poor woman also stand back up when her queen left, she must've felt so sad to lose the one she loves"_

" _The poor woman grieved her love for years, she never found another, and continued to serve Arendelle's Navy for the rest of her life, she became the first woman captain in Arendelle's history and ferociously fought away any bad people who dares disturb the peace in her love's kingdom" _Iduna concluded her story there as her memory of the part of the story after the queen's disappearance is kinda fuzzy since she hasn't heard it in decades.

Iduna pointed at the blue and green flag with a golden flower. _"This my little snowflake, is the flag of the Arendelle, the kingdom of the fair queen that disappeared. _

"_Mama" _Little Anna asked.

"_Yes My little snowflake?"_

"_What were the names of the beautiful queen and the poor woman?" _

_Their names my little snowflake, were Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and Anna "_

Anna looked up at her mom incredulously _ "wait a minute… that's MY name" _

"_yes it is my love, I named you after our ancestor because I knew that you will also become a very brave and strong woman when you are older _Iduna ended with a smile._ Now, come on Anna it's already 11, let's get you to bed. "_

Little Anna said _"Alright mama"_ with a yawn before walking off to her bedroom, talking one last glance at the purple and green flag with the golden flower

**PRESENT DAY **

"_10 seconds to impact"_

Captain Anna Kristiansen looked back at the screen displaying the drone's camera feed and saw the purple and green flag of Arendelle, except the golden flower was flying upside down.

Realization hit Anna like a freight train. "Shining of light at other ships, hull littered with holes consistent with battle damage, and flying a flag upside down? SHIT these guys were calling for help, AND WE'RE ABOUT TO BLOW THEM UP" she thought in her head.

"_4"_

Anna sprinted towards a console and grabbed the phone for making ship-wide announcements, the phone with a direct line to CIC and yelled into both of them

"_3"_

"_THIS IS CAPTAIN ANDERSON TO CIC"_

"_2"_

"_ABORT MISSILES, REPEAT: ABORT MISSILES, DISENGAGE TARGETS"_

"_1" _

Down in the CIC the TAO heard the panicked yell of the captain, and without any hesitation slammed her fist on the key to disengage the harpoon missiles by detonating their warheads before they reached their target.

Up on the bridge, Anna started yelling orders

"_Lieutenant Olaf, What's the status of the missiles?"_

"_Self'-destruct order of all missiles were successful captain, All targets: unharmed… although I can imagine target alpha would feel quite a shockwave as the missile exploded only 300 meters away from them"_

Anna breathed a sigh of relief before getting back into a stoic captain voice

_Alright then , Helm, set course for the unknown vessels, Lieutenant Olaf, designate them as friendly, and have medical teams at the ready._

"_Aye Captain" _They replied at the same time.


	8. Ch 8: Surrender or Die

At a relatively quiet part of the Royal yacht's main deck, Elsa looked out towards the side as crew members around her moved back and forth to their battle stations in anticipation of the inevitable final battle. She rested her hands on an undamaged railing and stared out into the horizon, their possible but not guaranteed savior a small speck in the distance. Through the faint noise and hustle on deck, the young queen closed her eyes and started zoning out, reflecting on her life, family, achievements, regrets, and what could've been. Rummaging through her memories; an anguished face with a set turquoise eyes and strawberry blonde hair overwhelmed all her senses and she found herself in a pitch black room with two arguing feminine voices.

"Can we please forget I ever said anything Elsa?" said a pleading voice.

"I'm Sorry, but I think it's for the best that we keep our distance from one another"

"Look...Elsa"

"IT'S YOUR MAJESTY"

"GASP!" Elsa broke off from her trance with a loud gasp, tears running down her face. She turned her neck and looked at her encroaching killers before covering her face with her hands and sobbing freely.

"I'm sorry...s_niff..._I'm sorry...I Love you too" she said out loud.

She still couldn't believe how one person managed to see through her queenly facade so easily and affect her in such a significant way.

"Oh Anna, If only I could see you again" she said out loud.

All of a sudden, Elsa heard a terrifying noise getting louder and louder. It was a noise she had never heard before and it sounded like a banshee was headed straight towards them.

Without any warning, huge explosions unlike any other she had ever heard before sounded

BOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOM

One of the explosions' shockwaves blew her off her feet and into a wall behind her. As she stood back up, Elsa felt a small ache in her left shoulder _probably from hitting the wall so hard_ she thought. She looked towards the horizon in horror as she realized that the explosions did not come from the 4 sailing ships, but from the vessel that they were counting on saving them. She felt all blood drain from her face, they were now trapped.

Captain Oaken, who had also been knocked off his feet by the nearby explosion, had one of his arms injured and was sprinting towards Elsa. "Your majesty"

"We have to get you inside NOW" he screamed with urgency.

As he got to her side, about to drag her back into her armoured cabin, Elsa suddenly ripped her hand out of the captain's and stared at him with a look that could kill.

"Captain...NO, I'm done running." Elsa started with a cold determination.

"Captain Oaken... I absolutely refuse to let anyone else die in futility, you and I both agree that no matter what happens, no matter how hard we fight, victory is impossible."

Captain Oaken looked at the monarch in shock.

"But your majesty-"

"Captain, answer me this: that large silver ship, are they of the Southern Isles? Are they in league with the 4 other ships that have chased us since we departed Portugal"?

"We Don't know Your Majesty, all we know is that the 4 clippers chasing us were registered in the Southern Isles and that they are most like mercenaries contracted by the government of the Southern Isles to assassinate you." The captain continued his explanation with a slight wince from the pain in his arm. "We can't confirm anything your majesty, but that seems to be the most plausible explanation, pirates wouldn't dare attack a royal vessel, and the Southern Isles is the only nation who we now have a motive to kill you"

"You didn't answer my question captain, I already knew that" Elsa responded clinically. " Is that silver ship in league with them"

"We don't know for sure your majesty but what we do know is that that ship looks way too large and expensive for any mercenary, it's the largest vessel I've ever seen, and judging by whatever they just attacked us with, the most powerful I've ever seen, the odds of it being mercenaries are small, in fact, I dare say only a large European empire like Russia, Britain or France could field such a ship, all of which Arendelle has good relations with.

Oaken looked at Elsa worriedly.

"Your Majesty, where are you going with this?"

Elsa started to pace in front of Oaken

" Ok, so we know that our pursuers are mercenaries, and that the odds of that silver ship being a mercenary are next to none, and that it must be owned by the navy of a large country, all of which we have no dispute with.

Elsa took a deep breath before saying her next words

"Captain Oaken, as queen, I order you to surrender to the silver ship"

Captain Oaken gasped in shock

"But Your Majesty-"

"You said that the silver ship is unlikely to be a mercenary and be of a national navy yes?"

"Yes Your Majesty, but they did just attack us so-"

Elsa cut him off again.

"Captain. If we do nothing and fight to the death, we will ALL CERTAINLY die needlessly which I WILL NOT STAND FOR, If we surrender to the 4 mercenary ships, we will also all most likely die. But if we surrender to whoever owns the silver ship-

"Then we have a chance"

"Exactly captain, right now, that silver vessel is our best chance of making out of this alive."

Just as they finished their conversation, a yell from the bird's nest could be heard

"VESSEL APPROACHING PORT SIDE AT HIGH SPEED"

Elsa and Oaken turned towards the port side, oaken pulled out his portable telescope and peeked through at the approaching silver ship

"God Almighty"

As Oaken looked through the telescope, he saw something that made his blood run cold. A giant metal ship, something he thought would only be able to lumber along at best due to its sheer size, approaching them at speeds not even the fastest steam locomotive or thoroughbred horse could achieve.

Elsa grabbed another telescope that was lying on a nearby crate and saw the same thing, a similar reaction coursing through her body.

As they watched the silver vessel approach, another yell could be heard from the crow's nest.

"CAPTAIN! THE 4 PURSUING CLIPPERS HAVE RAISED MASTS"

Upon hearing that, both Captain Oaken and Elsa quickly turned their binoculars from the fast approaching silver vessel to their assassins, and sure enough the 4 vessels that were about to pounce on them were now slowly adding more and more distance between them and the royal yacht until they were but a spec in the horizon.

_They're probably assessing us, trying to get the royal yacht and silver ship in close proximity, kill two birds with one stone, _Oaken thought. Despite this, he realized that he had no choice but to let the silver vessel approach them, it was the only way to ensure Her Majesty's survival.

By this point, the 4 pursuing clippers were well out of firing range and could barely be seen by the crow's nest. So if they choose to attack again, they'd have at least 40 minutes to prepare. But now they've got bigger problems: that large, powerful, mysterious, silver vessel has arrived.


	9. Ch 9: Boarding Party

**Somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, 18th December 2020, 1500hrs.**

Aboard the USS Republic, Anna is helping a corpsman pack her equipment while Lieutenant Olaf, Commander Kristoff and the ship quartermaster went through a final checklist for everything the boarding party needed.

With a small grunt, Anna shoves the final roll of bandages into the bag and zippes it shut with an accomplished smirk. She walks over to the quartermaster and grabs an M4 carbine and an M9 pistol, she inserts and secures the magazines into her weapons, chambers a round, and engages the safeties.

A slight frown forms on Anna's lips as she donned her bulletproof vest followed by an extra pouch of medical supplies. She doesn't like the fact that they were going to meet the people they almost blew up armed to the teeth, but protocol was protocol.

"I still think this is a bad idea ma'am, we need you here on the ship in case something goes wrong" Kristoff disgruntledly voices.

"Oh Relax Commander, we almost blew up a ship that was clearly just asking for help, the least we could do is give them a proper apology from the captain" Anna replies optimistically.

"You're gonna kill yourself"

Before Anna retorts, One of the marines, a part of the boarding party's security contingent, patts Kristoff on the shoulder.

"Oh relax commander" he says with confidence. "We'll make sure the capt'n here makes it back in one piece. Besides, in the VERY unlikely event things go south, we can just shoot our way out, my men are one of the finest the corps has to offer if I do say so myself" he finishes with a proud smile.

Anna smirkes and turns her attention back to a clearly annoyed Kristoff

"You see, commander, we'll be fine, and by the way, you should really have some more confidence in our marine detachment, right….?

" Fitzherbert ma'am, First lieutenant Eugene Fitzherbert." he said with a smirk.

Eugene confidently boards a RHIB and begins his pre-mission briefing as the group arrives and loads up their equipment.

"Alright ladies, here's the plan. The mission will consist of 24 people, 18 of whom will be a part of the boarding party, the captain included… Normally, we wouldn't even need an armed detachment for a medical mission, but since the target appears to be armed, we won't be taking any chances."

" the Republic will anchor approximately 100 meters off vessel alpha's port side, from there, RHIB alpha, with the main marine boarding team, myself included will be the first to depart, we'll circle around the the vessel, board, make contact, and determine if there's any threat, once that's done, We'll radio for RHIB bravo to approach and board with the captain and medical team. Any Questions?" Eugene finishes while glancing around at his audience.

"NON SIR" replied the marine detachment.

"Alright then, come on, time's a-wastin" he finishes with a stern yet somehow playful look on his face.

Anna and the medical staff plus her personal escort or "battle buddy" board RHIB Bravo while Eugene and his marines detachment board rhib Alpha and speeds off towards the ship; Anna and the other people on her boat sits and waits for the all clear, collectively staring as the RHIB of marines approach the strange sailing ship they had nearly blown into kingdom come.

Eugene and his team of marine speeds towards the heavily damaged Royal Yacht, one marine manning the .50 BMG mounted on the front of the RHIB while the rest sat in the back of the raft, gripping their M4s.

As the RHIB approaches and circles the stricken vessel, Eugene notices the distinct smell of gunpowder and death becoming more and more pungent, he takes note of several holes throughout the hull and superstructure, the blackened wood most likely caused by fires.

"Jesus Christ" he audibly whispers with a look of shock and horror on his face.

Around him, his fellow marines were also in the same state of shock as he was as they approached the ship.

"It's an complete fucking miracle this thing isn't twenty-thousand leagues under." mutters another marine.

Eugene turns his head towards the marine piloting the RHIB and mutters an order.

"Corporal Maximus, bring us around on the vessels port side"

"Aye Sir" responded the young marine.

The RHIB slowly pulls up to the vessel's port side, the marines looking up towards the main deck, still gawking at what they are seeing. Eugene grabs a boarding ladder and secures it to the main deck of the Royal Yacht, after checking and double checking if it was secured, the rest of the marines prepare themselves to board. The first of Eugene's team climbes the ladder onto the ship, followed by another, then another, once all 8 of his team were on board, he looked back at Corporal Maximus and the other marine manning the 50.

"Alright you two" Eugene turned his head and said with one hand and leg on the ladder.

"Y'all know what to do if things go south" he says passively as he continues his ascent.

As Eugene approaches the top of the ladder he sees the hand of one of the marines reaching down towards him, gladly accepting, Eugene grabs the hand and is pulled up onto the main deck of the ship and he quickly patts himself off after getting his bearings.

The scene in front of him nearly makes him throw up, he looks at the 8 other marines who've boarded just before him and sees the same emotion on their face: shock, horror, and disgust.

Eugene one-handedly reaches towards his radio in slow motion while the other rests on top of his rifle.

"Alpha team to Bravo, Alpha team to Bravo, this is Lieutenant Fitzhebert, please respond." he says with a blank look on his face, eyes not moving from the scene in front of him.

After a short crackle, a feminine voice responds.

"Alpha team, this is Bravo, Captain Kristiansen, go ahead Lieutenant, we read you loud and clear." replies Anna.

" I don't think these people are any threat Captain...at least not anymore" he mumbles in the last part.

"Say again?" replies the captain in a confused and borderline worried tone.

"Bravo you are clear to board, there is no threat, but we're gonna need those medics here ASAP"

"Copy that Lieutenant, we're approaching the vessel"


End file.
